Electric rail-bond.



ELECTRIC BAIL BOND.

(Application Bled Feb. 25, 1902A (lo Modal.)

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WILLIAM J. LONG AND JAMEsfB. NoLDER, or wiunna,PENNsvLvANiAQ;

UNiTED STATES yPATENT ELECTRIC RAIL-BOND.

srncnrcamlolv forming'part of Letters Patent No. rooeaneed Mayao, 1902.l 1 i i Application iiled February 25, 1902. Serial No. 95,539. (No modeL) i l To @ZZ whom itmyooz/cern: l Be it known-that we, WILLIAMJ. LONG an JAMES B. NOLDER, citizensl of the United States, residing at Windber, in the county 'of Somerset and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful lElectric Rail-Bond;

and we do hereby declare the following tobe a full,v clear, and exact description of the iuvention, such as will enable othersv skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

enced in electricrail-bonds for mine-railways, where the rails are'small and where they are often submergedin sulfur-water, and with those forms of electric rail-bonds now in use v under such conditions it has'been found necessary to employ a man constantly for repairing such'electrical connections, especially as the wreckage of a car is exceedingly `liable -todestroy the bond. a

, This inventionhas for its object to provide an electric rail'fbond of-this'characterwhich will be' exceedingly inexpensive in construetion and which will provide`thenecessary contact-surface' and' atthe same time be unae'ctedby the actionof the sulfu r-water and rust of the railsand fish-plates;

t A further object vofthe invention `is to provide an electric rail-boudin which theamount of metal employed'will be reducedtoa minimum and which win fom with the `rash-plates, and the rails afsolid andlcompact structure thatwill effectually prevent any injury to the ,boudin the event of the wreckage `o fa mine-` arlf. f v l Also the invention has for its object to produce anelectric bond adapted to be applied in position with a minimumA amount of labor and capableoflastingas long as the rails and fish-plates without losing its effectiveness. The invention consistsiuthenovel construc-V tion and arrangement of parts hereinafter illustrated and described, andjparticularly ed in accordance withv this A'invention.1-

Figg iis a detail view of fthe electric rail bond.

railways where the rails 2 are small and where Fig. 4 is a similar view of one of the fish-plates. f Referring to the drawings, lvdesi'gnates an Lelectric rail-bond designed for vuse in mine- 7Fig.\"vf"" 2 is a horizontal sectionalviewof thesaine'.

the same are to a great extent submerged sulfur-water, and the said electric rail-bondf consists of a thin copper plate, arrangedaty one side of the" rails2 and interposed be-A tween the web of .the rails andV one ofthe fishplates- 3 and-,4. The rails are provided .atfgf 1 vtheirends witlI-periorationsandiforqthe fj 'receptionv of. bolts-'7, whichextendfthrough the rails and the slifpl'ates, andthe latter y70.", lV 9, which regslerwithithe perforation's of the v' `railsand which are elongated' to permit the necessary contractionfand'l expansion of the" ff ar'eiprovided with -elon gated openings 8 'and parts; -P v. "The electric bOndLisprOVdedat its ends with the inner` openings 8 of the'flsh-plate with nuts of the ordinary construction, and

with "elongated, openings 10, which-register, `and with the endperforations of the rails.-, I' The bolts are provided at their threaded ends 8o suitable locking-washers are ldesigned to ber interposed betweenthe nuts and the adjacentl fish-plates but Vany other form Yof. nut-locks..v

may be employed to prevent the nutsfrom accidentallyunscrewing f l he fish-plate 3 is provided at its inner face` with athin narrow groove 1l, conforming to the configuration of theelectric-railway bond and forming a seat for the same, the electric rail-bond fitting solidly against the adjacent faces of the webs of the rails and the vertical Wall of the groove andthe ish-platev 3 form-l ing a housing or casing for the leleotric'rail-v f bond,ywher eby the `latter is effectually -protected from the sulfur-water', lAlso, Vby arfish-plate3 and therails itis securely pro- '95"1 y ranging the electric rail-bond" between the tected from vibrations and jars incident tothe e t passage of loaded cars `over the rail-joint;l and lit .cannot be broken or,y otherwiseinjured through the wreckage ofa mine-car. v

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The electric rail-bond whichcarries the re turn-current in an electric-railway system presents a maximum amount of contact-surof material to the minimum.

face and aords an efficient electrical connecl plate seated in the groove and entirely filling tion and at the same time reduces the amount Also it effects a great saving of labor, both in the application of it to the rails and Obviating the necessity of employing a workman for looking after the electrical connection between the rails and repairing the same. After the electric rail-bond has been placed in position it cannot be broken olf or otherwise rendered ineective, and it has been found by experience that it will not bc aected by sulfur-Water when the rail-joint is submerged in the same, and it will remain effective as long as the rails and the fish-plates last. Furthermore, the electric rail-bond may be manufactured at a greatly-reduced cost, both on account of its simplicity of construction and the small amount of metal involved in its manufacture, and its strength and durability are greatly increased by the manner in which it is supported by the fish-plates and the rails, which prevent any independent jar or vibration of the electric rail-bond. It has also been found by experience that rust of the rails or any corrosion of the copper will not impair the effect of the electrical connection when the electric rail-bond is arranged as set forth herein.

`Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a device ofthe class described the combination with rails, of a fish-plate provided at its inner face with a longitudinal groove, an electric rail-bond consisting of a thin copper the same throughout its entire length and interposed between the rails and the fish-plate, said fish-plate forming a casing or housing for the electric rail-bond and supporting the same at the upper and lower edges thereof throughout the entire length of the same,substantially` as described.

2. In a device of the class described,tl1e com-V bination of the rails provided at their ends with perforations arranged in pairs, iishplates arranged at opposite sides of the rails and provided With elongated openings arranged in pairs,an electric rail-bond consisting of a thin copper plate 4provided at its ends with elongated openings registering with the end perforations of the rails and with the inner openings of the fish-plates, said electric rail-bond being snugly seated and concealed Within a groove of the inner face of one of the fish-plates and entirely filling the saine throughout its entire lengtl1,whereby it forms a solid structure with the rails and fish-plates and is supported and protected by the same, and fastening devices, passing through the said perforations and openings, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereto alli xed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

VILLIAM J. LONG. JAMES l5. NOLDER.

Witnesses:

J. L. MINICK, J. C. FARBER. 

